The Dark Edge Chronicles - Hardwire

Chapter 40: Homecoming

Dee looked up with a start as a third portal's entry point ripped into being before irising open, the previous two already having winked out of existence. 'Damn!' she thought as the portal completed its opening to reveal the now familiar roiling surface of an inverted gateway. 'I don't think I'll ever get used to that!'

But she was even more surprised when not only did Mordecai stepped out of the final portal, but two women as well, a devastatingly gorgeous blonde and an equally stunning brunette, stepping on the big man's heels into the room before the portal vanished. In a glance, Dee saw that the two newcomers were dressed as they all were, in dark overalls and equipment vests, their shoulder-length hair pulled back into functional tails. Their beautiful faces were carved into wary masks, their eyes stabbing this way and that as if searching for enemies and the same dark cloak that hung on both Mordecai and the blonde he had created back at the Brotherhood complex, hung on them. New recruits?

"Status?" Mordecai asked as he stepped further into the room, leaving the two women standing as if on guard close to the door as the final gateway winked out of sight. Jeriko, having introduced herself by this point and was now kneeling beside a wounded vampire, looked up and over her shoulder.

"I'm just helping Olira put the last of the wounded back together," she reported. "We should have those that can move, mobile in the next couple of minutes."

"And those that were unharmed during the assault are ready to move," Lash spoke up from where he was consulting with Tahsis and the vampire he had given senior command in Duffy's team. "We just need to change our clothing and we can be on our way to the airport!"

"That is, if the airport isn't already closed!" Dee growled as she stepped away from the window she had been looking out of to begin tugging her equipment vest off. A wave of her hand towards the room's flat screen TV showed it filled with news coverage of the unfolding events downtown. "Considering the amount of damage we left in our wake in the downtown core, I wouldn't be surprised if Toronto PD is moving hard to close off all access to the city!"

"Then we don't have much time," Mordecai said firmly with a nod, focusing his intense gaze on both Dee and Duffy, who had closed in to join his redheaded comrade. "You two are our experts on law enforcement. How long do you estimate it'll take the Toronto police to close off the city, if they choose that route?"

Dee glanced over at Duffy, who immediately became thoughtful.

"Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes at the most," The grizzled ex-patriot Brit replied after a short moment of thought. He looked over at Dee, who nodded her agreement with his numbers.

"And possibly as little as ten minutes, if they suspect we could be trying to leave via Pearson. Toronto's a bloody big place, mate, with lots of trouble makers. The police here, in Toronto, are some of the best trained in Canada. Maybe even all of North America!"

"Yeah," Dee chimed in. "With a special anti-terrorist taskforce to boot, with links to the military and the RCMP, as well as CSIS. If they flag this as a terrorist attack, you can kiss getting out of the city via normal routes good bye!" Abruptly she frowned. "But why are you even asking, Mordecai? Now that the lights are back on, can't you just jump us out of here with one of your portals?"

It was Jeriko, surprisingly, that answered.

"Punching out after lighting the city up with psionic fire would allow the Brotherhood to track us," she said, not looking up from the vampire she and Olira were trying to piece back together as she spoke. "A flash port is too quick for them to pick out, but a bore port to somewhere else like Calgary is like hanging out a sign." She sealed a last tear before finally looking up. "Which is why we lone gunmen actually fly on Normal airlines for the most part."